Becoming Minimalist Top Posts of 2014

Written byjoshua becker ·

A special thanks to each of you for making 2014 an incredible year at Becoming Minimalist. This website continues to grow each month beyond my wildest expectations. This growth has occurred entirely from the support of readers like you—there is no advertising involved.

Thank you for sharing this website. But even more than that, thank you for sharing the life-giving message of owning less.

Over the past year, Becoming Minimalist has grown in significant ways:

Monthly visitors to Becoming Minimalist grew from 350,000 to over 1,000,000 visitors/month.

Our Newsletter unites and inspires 14,000 simple living advocates around the world.

In January, we released a book, Clutterfree with Kids, which spent two weeks as the #1 Parenting book in America.

And, in November, our book Simplify became a Wall Street Journal Bestseller. Hooray!

It has indeed been an incredibly exciting year. The metrics above prove the point. But going beyond the numbers, 2014 marks my first full year of writing and speaking full-time on the topic of minimalism. This message is important and the opportunity is great. I am grateful to be a small part of it.

In case you missed any, here are some of the top posts on Becoming Minimalist from 2014.

The Lies that Keep Our Schedules Overwhelmed.Expectations, demands, and accessibility continue to expand, but the number of hours in a week do not. As a result, our lives get busier and busier. But this approach rarely benefits any of us in the long-run.

9 Common Pursuits That Rob Us of Happiness.How can a society search so desperately for happiness, but still struggle to find it? Maybe because the pursuits we have set before us as a means to find joy are actually keeping us from it.

3 Questions to Ask Before Making Any Purchase.We buy far more than we need. Our filled closets, overflowing drawers, and crammed basements stand as proof that purchases are not improving our lives. Our discontent is most evidenced in our excess.

My Personal Favorite Posts from the past year:

Love People, Not Things. People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.

In the Blink of an Eye. Sometimes events happen in the blink of an eye that change the course of our lives forever. Those who recognize and accept the truth that life is fragile live their lives fully in light of it.

Most Popular Guest Posts in 2014:

16 Things Your Kitchen Can Do Without.by John and Dana Shultz. This list is neither exclusive nor conclusive. Rather, it’s merely a starting point to hopefully inspire you to reevaluate how much you keep in your kitchen.

Whether you have been reading Becoming Minimalist for one week, one month, one year or longer, thank you so much. This blog owes its success to the support of its readers. Thank you for reading. And thank you for sharing these posts with others.

We look forward to an exciting 2015. In fact, it may be our most ambitious year yet. We have three huge announcements to make in the coming months. One that involves a new book, one that introduces a new project, and one that is so unbelievable I’m not even sure where to begin (but here’s a hint).

In the coming year, Becoming Minimalist will continue to evolve and be redefined. But it will always stay true to its core message that there is more joy to be found in owning less than can be found in pursuing more.

We will continue to invite as many as possible to discover this truth in their lives. I do hope you will join us.

About Joshua Becker

Writer. Inspiring others to live more by owning less.WSJ Bestselling author of The More of Less.

Comments

I am pretty new to the minimalist movement but your blog has been a tremendous resource for me and has enabled me to make conscious, intentional shifts in my thinking towards not only consumerism but also how I choose to use my time and how I define my value system.

I am a newbie and my minimalist efforts are not earth shattering compared to some but another thing I’ve learned this year is that simple living is not a contest and there’s not a rigid set of rules or someone standing over you saying “you’re doing it wrong”. It’s just about me and my journey and what intentional downshifting has created in my life.

THANK YOU for all of the resources and encouragement and please keep it up!

been thinking about doing more to become less and saying I am going to do it, bit somehow just never started the journey! Coming upon this is a confirmation that it is time…. The time is now!
Can’t wait to learn how others are traveling this road!

Joshua, thanks for another year of wonderful inspiration, advice and encouragement. My first year of striving towards simplicity and minimalism has been fantastic, and I enjoy the opportunities everyday. I’m happy to say at least some of the 200k FB likes have come from my friends who also are appreciative of all the info.

What an incredible success story and year you’ve had, Joshua! Well done and congratulations. The traffic growth that you’ve seen is remarkable. Even more, it seems like you’ve stayed true to your goals and mission for the site.

Joshua – we started on the minimalism journey early in 2014 when another site posted your picture – better to own less than organize more. That kicked off a year of cleaning, removing old stuff, and choosing what matters over stuff. We’ve cleaned out a LOT of stuff, paid off debt, simplified and are overall lighter and more free! Thanks so much for starting the journey, and staying true to your values.

Congratulations in the wonderful increase in readership. Goes to show you are enriching the lives of others. I began my minimalism journey in February with the Minimalism Game. I soon found your blog, which has kept me engaged and focused on living a better, simpler life for the long haul

I’m new to your blog, but am absolutely loving it (and your newsletters too)! We already lived a pretty simple life, but your writing has helped inspire and motivate me in other ways to continue simplifying our life and focusing on the right things. Keep up the wonderful work and I look forward to a new year of great reading!

your story is an inspiration, especially for someone who is trying to also do something similar to yours. Apart from the articles you have provided that goes a long way to help people get a hold about their lives the “personal” success of this site will inspire people to identify what they wanna do in life and pursue it with great motivation and zeal. Good luck for 2015 and beyond.

I really look forward to reading what you write, it is good to be with like minded people, i have had a lot of grief over the last few years and i think its about time i turned things around, altered my way of thinking etc, some people are very pushy and manipulative and they control, you never do that, i just think what you write is inspiring for all the right reasons, all the very best to you and your family and other readers who follow your blog for the coming new year, hope its prosperous not just financially but spiritually too, good health and good relationships all round love Jacqueline

Joshua, your blog is one of the reasons I am embarking on a Less is More journey in 2015: I will buy nothing! I’m mostly excited about it. I will surely hang out over here to find inspiration and encouragement! Thank you. :-)

I’ve heard about minimalism for several years and had many misconceptions about what it meant. I’ve spend the last couple of weeks reading your blog and I am liking the change it has already put into my life. Cheers to more positive change and cheers to 2015!

Joshua
I have been a long time reader. I’m always inspired by your posts, whether they are a how-to, a pondering on life and how we live or about the minimalism movement itself. Thank you for your sincere writing. I pray Gods richest blessings for you, your family and this blog over the coming year of 2015.

It was your “Love People, Not Things” post that lit a fire in me this year. I was mourning the loss of family heirloom jewelry that had been stolen in a burglary and your words shook me out of it. Losing a string of beads or a gold locket didn’t take the memories of the father or grandmother who bestowed them. I was able to untether those memories from the objects and keep them…no burglar can ever take them.

But the fire expanded and I began to realize how often we tend to mix up loving people and using things. It’s been a year of painful awakenings and spiritual growth. This blog has been a tremendous help in my journey.

I am so excited to come across your website, newsletter and Facebook page. The timing couldn’t be better. I have found it difficult to balance my career, being a mother to my 2 young daughters, and being a partner to my husband. I have found myself becoming more and more distracted and not being ‘present’ in my life. The days and weeks fly by so fast and as I look back I wonder where the time went and why I didn’t use the time in a more meaningful way. Your story about cleaning/dealing with the stuff in your garage while your son played in the yard really hit home for me. I too am finding myself being busy with the stuff around the house and distractions in my life and not being with my children who are so eager to have my attention. 2015 is a new beginning for me. I am looking to free myself of the distractions (stuff/things, social media, over scheduling, etc) and focus on being present. Thank you for providing the tools and support I need to start on this journey.

I get so inspired reading your posts. What seems so simple you make interesting in everything you write. Slowly but surely becoming less materialistic and more mindful. I thought it would be so easy but it will always be a habit/choice I need to make every day.

Thanks for writing this blog! After years of consumerism and hoarding, I felt that I had everything I wanted but in the end I had nothing – sounds crazy but not really. It took me a little while to figure that something was missing in my life and I realised my life was way too cluttered and way too worried about managing and maintaining “things” to be truly enjoying a worry-free life! Since then de-cluttering at many levels (physical and emotional) became my passion and I follow your blog regularly for tips and suggestions. So a big thank you for sharing your helpful tips and insights.